American Indian Culture and Research Journal

On 27 October 1993 President William Clinton signed the Catawba Land Claim Settlement Act. By the stroke of his pen, this legislation ended over thirteen years of litigation by extinguishing the claim of the Catawba Indian Tribe to 144,000 acres of highly developed South Carolina land and trespass damages for the 140 years the Catawba have not possessed the land. At the same time, this legislation also provided a variety of federal and state benefits to the Catawba. The thirteen-year history of this litigation was indeed extraordinary in more respects than the length of its existence. During that time, the case was before the US Supreme Court once, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals seven times-six of those times by the entire court sitting en bum-and the Supreme Court of South Carolina once. In addition, there were numerous hearings before the US District Court in South Carolina, presided over by Senior Judge Joseph Willson from the western district of Pennsylvania, specifically appointed to the case by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Warren Burger.